This is the first chapter that I've changed a little. I hope you enjoy it!


Five weeks. Five weeks of nothing but rehab and commentary. Five long weeks. Being stuck in the Performance Center day in and day out with the same people was giving Jet a serious case of cabin fever. Watching the shows she was meant to be on every week only made her go more stir crazy, especially when TLC rolled around. Jet had planned to ignore the pay-per-view entirely but Corey had all but staged a home invasion to put it on. Under normal circumstances Jet would have loved the show, but she couldn't ignore the burning resentment towards the world at the fact that she was sitting home in Orlando while Natalya was part of the match that Jet had been scheduled for. Punk kept insisting that Jet would have her title match when she got back, but she wanted it now. The five days she'd spent in London with her parents for Christmas had kept her mind off things for a little while, but returning to Orlando renewed the fire to get going again.

The worst thing was that she just couldn't understand why she was still sitting on her ass. Her leg felt absolutely fine and she used the ring designed for the high fliers to prove that to all the trainers but they still refused to let her actually get in the ring for a match until the doctors had cleared it.

Jet had asked for an NXT match before heading back out on the road, just to make sure everything was working as it should be. She didn't want to get in the ring for Raw and find that she was too nervous to actually do anything. First she just had to get the okay from the medical staff.

"Juliette, for the last time," Gerald sighed, "give it another week and then we'll see about putting you in a match, okay?"

"But – !"

"No buts, missy. Keep up with your hamstring exercises until Thursday and we'll see how you are for the taping."

Jet huffed and crossed her arms but didn't argue. There was no point, Gerald Brisco wouldn't budge on anything when his mind was made up.

"Ugh, fine. Do you know who I'm wrestling on the show yet?"

Gerald smiled, knowing Jet would like the plan. "Well we were thinking we could get the old team back together. Fancy tagging with Adrian?"

Jet's pout was immediately wiped away and replaced with a face splitting grin. "Yes, yes, yes! Oh my God, yes!"

"So I'm to take that as a yes? Make sure you're fit, prove it to the doctors, then we'll make it happen."


"Come on!"

"Juliette, stop tugging my arm."

"Well hurry up then!"

"The doctor isn't going anywhere," Corey pointed out, "I'm sure he'll wait five minutes for you to get in the building."

"I just wanna get cleared to go back," Jet explained.

"Y'know, I'm getting a little offended that you're so eager to leave us all again."

Jet paused and smiled softly at Corey, ruffling a hand through his unkempt hair. "I love you guys. Unfortunately for you, if I sit around doing nothing for much longer then I'm probably gonna go homicidal."

Corey figured it was probably a good bet to hurry up before his life was threatened. She ignored all the greetings from the people they passed, instead hurrying straight through into the medical room, greeting the head trainer, Brian Duncan, with a beaming smile.

"I'm here for my last check-up, doc!"

"You hope your last check-up," he corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Jet agreed, jumping up onto the examination table. "Do your stuff."

The inspection of Jet's hamstring took way longer than she would have liked. She knew Brian was just trying to be thorough as he didn't want to send her back to work only to have a relapse, but Jet was getting more and more bored as the minutes ticked away and her leg was pushed and pulled.

"How does it feel in the ring?"

"As good as new."

"You know you were told eight weeks. It's only been five and a half."

"But…" Jet prompted.

"But… I think I can give you the go ahead for an early return."

Jet said nothing, just pounced up from the examination table and jumped on Brian, squealing loudly right in his ear.

"Woah, okay, I guess you're excited."

"Yes! I'm going crazy here doc, I can't wait to be back."

"I'm more than happy to give you the good news. Go on, get out there and tell them you're ready."

Jet flew out of the room, heading straight for Dusty's office to deliver the brilliant news.


"Dude, our match starts in ten. Hurry up," Jet moaned, trying to move Adrian out of the locker room.

"Don't hurry me, lass, I'll be ready in my own time."

One of the things Jet definitely hadn't missed about tagging with Adrian was his ridiculous routine of superstitions. More than once he had pushed it right until the last second to make it to gorilla, getting Jet in just as much trouble as he was. Too often it had let to arguments, the Manc versus the Geordie, so despite how much fun being in the team was, it wasn't all that heartbreaking when those behind the scenes decided it was time to break them up. Still, Jet liked the nostalgic blast she got from being his partner again.

After plenty of nagging, Jet finally managed to get Adrian out of the locker room and down to where Bo Dallas and Paige were waiting on them. The match had been put together based on Adrian's feud with Bo, and the fact that Paige was the last person Jet was facing before she left NXT. Jet hugged Paige and ran over their planned final moments of the match while Adrian chatted easily to Bo. A stagehand gave them the thumbs up while Bo's music started to play.

The NXT Arena screamed in delight when Jet and Adrian headed out together. She'd missed that noise more than she could imagine.

"Ready?" Adrian asked.

"Born it."

The two of them worked perfectly in tandem just like they always had. They had the advantage of experience with each other, something Bo and Paige didn't have, and they made it count. Everything flowed perfectly, every spot being hit just as it should. The four of them had met up to discuss the ending with Bo suggesting what they ended up using.

Jet was near the corner of the ring with Paige, having just hit a tornado DDT. She covered the NXT Women's Champion with a three count looking inevitable. Bo dived into the ring, hitting Jet in the back to break the count. Adrian immediately bounced off the top rope, hitting Bo with a dropkick, sending him sprawling across the mat.

The crowd screamed when they noticed the placement of the two of them.

Jet and Adrian shared a glance and nodded, each of them heading to opposite corners. When they were both on top of the turnbuckles, they jumped. The Red Arrow and the Jetstream were in almost perfect synchronisation. Jet landed in the pin as Adrian rolled Bo out of the ring, getting the final three count.

As she and Adrian had their hands raised and the NXT crowd cheered for them, Jet knew that only getting back to the main stage could possibly feel any better than that moment.


January 6, 2014
Monday Night Raw
Baltimore, Maryland

For all her whining about wanting to get back on the road, Jet felt a pang of sadness as she packed up her stuff and prepared to leave Orlando again. Corey's pouting face didn't make it any easier.

"You better come home soon," he stated firmly, hugging Jet when the call came for her to board the flight to Baltimore. "Don't be away for five months again, okay?"

"I'll try, I promise."

"Good. Now get going, we wouldn't want you to miss your triumphant return."

Jet dropped a kiss on his cheek and grabbed her carry-on. "Love you, Corey."

"Love you, Short Round. Go get on your plane before you get stuck here."

Jet ran over to where the queue was forming for boarding, throwing a wave over her shoulder as Corey left the airport. When she landed in Baltimore a couple of hours later all she had to do was get to the arena and make it through unseen.

She definitely underestimated how hard that would be.

After nearly an hour of ducking around corners and pulling a hood over her face, Jet finally found herself in the back, making her way to gorilla. She winked at the production assistant who seemed stunned by her appearance. Jet could see AJ out in the ring from the monitor backstage and knew her moment was coming up.

"I have beaten every woman back there! I have proved myself time and time again, and it's about time I was recognised as the greatest Diva's Champion in history!" AJ yelled. She opened her mouth to continue, but was cut off by the sound of music.

The future is bulletproof
The aftermath is secondary
It's time to do it now and do it loud
Killjoys, make some noise

It had been a long six weeks. Jet relished the sound of her entrance music as she stood in gorilla position. The crowd screamed for her and as she stepped out, she grinned brighter than she had in weeks. At the top of the ramp she made eye contact with AJ and waved sarcastically, blowing a kiss in her direction. AJ seethed but Jet could see the warmth in her best friend's eyes even from that far away. She was the only one who had been let in on Jet's return, solely so she wouldn't be thrown by the promo.

Jet lifted the mic in her hand. "AJ, AJ, AJ… you're out here giving it all that about how you're the greatest Divas Champion in history. That's all very well and good, sweetheart, but in case you forget, I beat you. I earned my title shot and we all know I'd have won that championship from you if not for the injury. But I'm back and I'm raring to go. So, seeing as I never got the title shot I was promised, how about me and you at the Royal Rumble?"

The crowd cheered raucously.

AJ laughed loudly into her microphone. "Please, that injury was a saving grace for you. I can kick your little ass any day, you're just lucky you've been away for six weeks. You want a chance at this belt? Well I want a chance to remind you just how superior I really am. Me and you at Royal Rumble? You got it."

Jet grinned and laid her microphone down on the floor, walking happily away while AJ seethed in the ring at the interruption. As soon as she was behind the curtain, Jet was met with Claudio's eager grin as he drew her up into a bonecrushing hug, lifting her clean off the floor.

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming back, schätzli?" he exclaimed.

"I wanted to surprise everyone! Did you hear it out there when my music started?"

"Juliette Madden, I'm going to kill you!" a loud Texan voice declared before Claudio could answer. He set Jet down just as Cel was rushing towards her. Jet threw her arms around her friend, grinning happily. "You're not allowed to keep secrets from me and definitely not secrets like this! I've missed you girl!"

"I've missed you too! How long is AJ gonna take? I want to catch up properly with you both."

"Forget AJ, you better get over here and give me a hug, kid," a new voice commanded.

Jet span around and catapulted herself into Punk's arms. "Hi!"

"What happened to not coming back until February, huh?"

"Well I'm all fixed and I missed the mad rush of being on the road."

"I'm gonna remind you that you said that the next time you're whining about having to get up at 6am."

Before Jet could shoot a reply she felt weight on her back and nearly toppled forwards. She managed to restore her balance and throw a stare over her shoulder.

"You're gonna kill me, AJ. I've only just got back, don't put me on the shelf again already!"

"This is so awesome, the whole gang is back together! Come on, come on, we've gotta fill you in on everything that's been going on!"

AJ tugged AJ along, forcing Celeste, Claudio and Punk to keep pace with them, everyone chatting happily now that the Brit had rejoined the group. Punk leaned in to Jet's ear while smirking.

"Nice hoodie."

Jet looked down at it and saw that she had her Punk jacket on. It was just one she'd swiped months ago and it had a big hood to hide her face, so Jet had worn it. Now she was feeling embarrassed.

"It was just there."

"Uh-huh, sure. You know the internet's gonna explode again, right?"

Jet hadn't thought about that. Uh oh.


January 7, 2014
Smackdown taping
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Punk was right – the internet went mental. Everyone was adamant that because Jet had been wearing a CM Punk hoodie, they were an item. Mike was in his element with insisting that Junk was finally becoming a real thing while Jet was just getting sick of being tweeted a million times about the relationship that didn't exist. She found a huge number of the tweets came from very angry fangirls, getting furious at Jet for something she hadn't actually done.

She wished the angry fangirls were her only concern, but the next day in the locker room something else was definitely wrong. Jet could place what it was, but she knew that there was something in the Diva's locker room setting her on edge. For once it wasn't the Bellas; they were nowhere to be seen so far. Jet hoped they were on the other house show circuit. Eva Marie was in the room shooting Jet, AJ and Celeste glares every now and then but, besides that, it was nothing the usual lot was doing.

No, it was much closer to home. Celeste wasn't her usual self. She didn't laugh at the terrible jokes Jet made or join in on her conversations with AJ about which actor they'd rather sleep with. She didn't seem upset, just completely out of it.

"Come on then," Jet said finally, sick of trying to figure it out, "what's wrong with you?"

"Huh?" Celeste asked, snapping out of her trance.

"That. Where's your head tonight?"

Celeste bit the inside of her lip, trying to figure out the best way to go about filling her best friends in on the news. The room had been rapidly emptying as it got closer to show time, so the three of them were the only ones there. With a sigh, Celeste realised this was the best time to do it.

"Well, I've been trying to decide when to tell you guys this… I'm leaving."

Jet's face scrunched in confusion. "Leaving what?"

"WWE. This is my last week here."

Jet reaction was almost instantaneous, her surprise and lack of understanding becoming evident.

"You can't leave!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and her arms in the air. "We need you here!"

Celeste chuckled lightly and shook her head. "No, you don't. You and AJ have got this."

"Of course we need you! You're our best friend, we always need you around! We'll have the most awesome Triple Threat match ever after the Rumble, how about that?" Jet offered, knowing it wasn't her place to start booking matches.

Celeste wrapped her arms around Jet, tugging her in for a hug. "It's not about title matches. I'm happy to be going. I'm gonna miss you guys so much, but we'll all see each other plenty, I promise. I've got other things to get on with now while you guys run this company, okay?"

Jet could feel her eyes filling up with tears but willed herself not to cry. She forced herself out of Celeste's embrace and crossed her arms. "No! That is not okay!" Jet turned furiously to AJ and waved her arms suddenly. "Well?!"

AJ had been standing completely still, staring at the opposite wall with her eyes not moving. She hadn't spoken since Celeste had dropped her bombshell and now she didn't even acknowledge that Jet had spoken to her.

"April? Aren't you going to say anything?" Jet demanded.

AJ's eyes suddenly shifted, staring Jet in the face. The Jersey girl said nothing. Instead, she dived on Celeste, wrapping herself around the bigger woman like a cobra, and started sobbing. AJ was definitely saying something but it was impossible to decipher with her face thrust into Celeste's hair and her crying blocking out the words. It wasn't until at least three minutes later, when the sobs had downgraded to sniffling whimpers, that she was finally understandable.

"Whatever you do, it's gonna be awesome. I love you and I'm gonna miss you."

Jet's mouth dropped open and she stared angrily at AJ. "What, you're just gonna be okay with it like that? Nope! No. No way."

She crossed her arms and stormed away, refusing to accept that this was happening. There was no way one of the greatest friends she'd ever made in this business was leaving. She just couldn't. Jet kept walking until she found a quiet spot, somewhere away from where everyone else was just going about their business as if the worst news in weeks hadn't just been dropped straight on her head.

How Celeste could think of walking away was just beyond her. How she could walk away from the business, from the fans, from her and AJ… she didn't understand it and she didn't want to.

The three of them were a unit. Ever since that morning that Jet had first walked into the Laredo Energy Center, all those months ago, as a fresh-faced and slightly scared newbie to the main roster, AJ and Celeste had grabbed her and taken her under their wings. Even if she had wanted to, neither gave her a chance to turn down their friendship. Jet didn't know what she would have done in those first couple of months without them. They were from her guides and her tutors, to her road buddies and her girls. They were all so fiercely loyal to each other, desperately wanting the best for each other and knowing they all deserved the world.

Splitting the three of them up just wasn't okay.

Jet sat there for a good twenty minutes, just staring ahead at the wall while trying to make sense of what was going on. She knew Celeste missed PJ desperately while they were on the road and wanted to do wedding planning and all sorts of fitness stuff that Jet only pretended to understand. But Jet still couldn't comprehend the idea of just walking away. She barely even noticed when someone else sat down on the ground beside her.

"Hey," Punk murmured, nudging into Jet's shoulder, "I was sent to find you. You okay?"

"No. Go away."

"Come on, take that frown off your face. I know it sucks when a friend leaves, we've all been there, but she's doing this on her own grounds. She's gonna love doing whatever she goes off to do, and you should be happy for her."

Jet knew he was talking sense. She should support Celeste in whatever she decided to do with her life, just like Cel would support her. Realising that didn't mean she hurt any less.

"You don't want her to leave without you saying goodbye, right?"

Jet shook her head, feeling her eyes filling with tears again. She blinked them back.

Punk stood and held out his hand, pulling Jet to her feet. When he saw the wetness around her eyes, he smiled sadly and wiped it away with his thumbs. He glanced around, realising he wasn't quite sure how he got there.

"How do you manage to find the most completely isolated corridors in every single arena?"

Jet shrugged, still not trusting herself to speak without her voice breaking. After being turned around a few times, the two of them finally managed to find their way back to the main body of the stadium, heading for where AJ and Celeste were still waiting. Jet could tell Celeste had been crying and that set her off immediately, especially about AJ's bawling episode.

Jet and Celeste ran at each other, coming together in a bone crushing hug.

"Can you forgive me?" Cel murmured in Jet's ear, trying not to cry again.

Jet was too far gone, already experiencing shoulder shaking sobs. She nodded her head manically as she clung to her friend. "I'm s-sorry, I love y-y-you."

"I love you too. I'm sorry I upset you."

"I j-just don't want t-to say goodbye. I'll m-miss you."

Punk watched silently as AJ threw herself into the hug too, the three women descending even further into hysterical sobs. He took himself away, knowing this had to be between the three of them. When all the crying finally died down, all three of them knew that things were changing more than they'd ever anticipated.


So Kaitlyn leaving is actually where's it's supposed to be! You're all still following, right? Good, on with the edit!